Köse and 93 others v. Turkey, (dec.), No. 26625/02, ECtHR ( Second Section), 24 January 2006

Refusal of access to the school structure of a public high school with the head covered. Does not violate art. 2 of the first additional protocol to the ECHR.

Art. 2 Prot. 1 ECHR

1. A State that establishes public schools cannot be released from its role as a neutral arbiter and guarantor of religious pluralism. In that connection, it is incumbent on the competent authorities to be very careful to ensure, within the bounds of their margin of appreciation, that when, out of respect for pluralism and the freedom of others, they permit students to manifest their religious beliefs on school premises, such manifestation does not become ostentatious and thus a source of pressure and exclusion. The need for such care is made all the more acute by the fact that the meaning or impact of the public expression of a religious belief will differ according to time and context.

2. The obligation on the pupils not to cover their heads on school premises does not deprive their parents of their right “to enlighten and advise their children, to exercise with regard to their children natural parental functions as educators, or to guide their children on a path in line with the parents' own religious or philosophical convictions”. Consequently, the rules on dress and related measures do not infringe the right set out in the second sentence of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1.